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2007 SCHEDULE
PRE-SEASON
Thu Aug 9 INDIANAPOLIS
(FOX) 7:00 pm
Sat Aug 18 DENVER (BSM)
7:00 pm
Sat Aug 25 @ Houston
(BSM) 7:00 pm
Thu Aug 30 @ Minnesota
(BSM) 7:00 pm
REGULAR SEASON
1. Sun, Sept. 9 NY GIANTS
(NBC) 7:15 pm
2. Sun, Sept. 16 @ Miami
(FOX) 3:05 pm
3. Sun, Sept. 23 @
Chicago (NBC) 7:15 pm
4. Sun, Sept. 30 ST. LOUIS
(FOX) Noon
5. Mon, Oct. 8 @ Buffalo
(ESPN) 7:30 pm
6. Sun, Oct. 14 NEW
ENGLAND (CBS) 3:15 pm
7. Sun, Oct. 21
MINNESOTA (FOX) Noon
8. Sun, Oct. 28 BYE WEEK
9. Sun, Nov 4 @
Philadelphia (NBC) 7:15
pm
10. Sun, Nov. 11 @ NY
Giants (FOX) 3:15 pm
11. Sun, Nov. 18
WASHINGTON (FOX) Noon
12. Thu, Nov. 22 NY JETS
(CBS) 3:15 pm
13. Thu, Nov. 29 GREEN
BAY (NFL) 7:15 pm
14. Sun, Dec. 9 @ Detroit
(FOX) Noon
15. Sun, Dec. 16 PHILLY
(FOX) 3:15 pm
16. Sat, Dec. 22 @
Carolina (NFL) 7:15 pm
17. Sun, Dec. 30 @
Washington (FOX) Noon
PRE-SEASON
Thu Aug 9 INDIANAPOLIS
(FOX) 7:00 pm
Sat Aug 18 DENVER (BSM)
7:00 pm
Sat Aug 25 @ Houston
(BSM) 7:00 pm
Thu Aug 30 @ Minnesota
(BSM) 7:00 pm
REGULAR SEASON
1. Sun, Sept. 9 NY GIANTS
(NBC) 7:15 pm
2. Sun, Sept. 16 @ Miami
(FOX) 3:05 pm
3. Sun, Sept. 23 @
Chicago (NBC) 7:15 pm
4. Sun, Sept. 30 ST. LOUIS
(FOX) Noon
5. Mon, Oct. 8 @ Buffalo
(ESPN) 7:30 pm
6. Sun, Oct. 14 NEW
ENGLAND (CBS) 3:15 pm
7. Sun, Oct. 21
MINNESOTA (FOX) Noon
8. Sun, Oct. 28 BYE WEEK
9. Sun, Nov 4 @
Philadelphia (NBC) 7:15
pm
10. Sun, Nov. 11 @ NY
Giants (FOX) 3:15 pm
11. Sun, Nov. 18
WASHINGTON (FOX) Noon
12. Thu, Nov. 22 NY JETS
(CBS) 3:15 pm
13. Thu, Nov. 29 GREEN
BAY (NFL) 7:15 pm
14. Sun, Dec. 9 @ Detroit
(FOX) Noon
15. Sun, Dec. 16 PHILLY
(FOX) 3:15 pm
16. Sat, Dec. 22 @
Carolina (NFL) 7:15 pm
17. Sun, Dec. 30 @
Washington (FOX) Noon
| Cowboy's Trivia Question of the Week! Who is the oldest player on the Cowboys' roster? Last Week's Answer: Danny White |
Smashmouth Football Is Dying
The NFL as we know it is rapidly changing. College has already
changed. The spread offense rules college football. Big, physical
football teams simply don't have an answer for it on defense.
Look at the NFL this season. What do the Patriots, Cowboys, Colts,
and Packers have in common? They all throw the ball for big
chunks of yards and they score a bunch of points. All four teams
run the ball pretty well especially the Colts and Cowboys, but they
are still scoring their points in the passing game.
The Pittsburgh/New England game showed me that the physical
smashmouth brand of football that has been a staple of the Steelers
and many other teams is dying. The Steelers had the number one
defense in the NFL and they got torched. The reason they got
torched is that their secondary is average at best. Their physical
front seven can pummel your average NFL team into submission,
but put that defense on the field against three and four receiver
sets all game long and they are out of their element.
Dallas's defense is a worse version of the Steelers. We are big and
physical. We stop the run and we have a good pass rush. We
dominate average to below average offensive teams like Minnesota,
Buffalo, and the Jets. Put us up against an above average offense
that likes to spread the field and we are in trouble.
To win in the new NFL you need to be athletic in your back seven,
and you have to be able to score points in the passing game.
Dallas's offense is perfect. Our offense is a little more conventional
than the Patriots and Packers, but we are equally as effective. We
don't usually put more than three receivers on the field because we
have Jason Witten. We are still able to get mismatches and throw
up and down the field on just about any defense we play.
Our defense is where the problem lies. Bill Parcells built a defense
for 1987. The problem is, it is 2007. With the Giants, he had a big,
bad defense that would take you one-on-one and beat the heck out
of you. We built a decent version of that defense in Dallas, but it
doesn't work against a team like the Patriots. They make you take
your playmaking linebackers off the field in place of your 4th and
5th cornerback. Good luck with that. Our cornerbacks are
downright awful when you get past the medicore Jacques Reeves.
I've never been a fan of the Tampa 2 defense, but it is most
capable of stopping a pass happy offense like the Patriots. This is
why I give the Colts the best chance of beating the Patriots. They
have the offense to keep up, but the also have a defense that really
slowed down the Pats earlier this season. Their defense is
undersized, but everyone on the field is fast and they can fly to the
ball. This type of defense also gives up few big plays making an
offense drive the length of the field.
Football is all about match ups. You could argue that the Cowboys
defense is as good or maybe slightly better than the Colts overall.
The Colts sometimes have trouble stopping the run because of their
size. However, when they play the Patriots they have much better
success.
Well, you may ask what we can do to help our problems on
defense? The answer is that there isn't a whole lot we can do. The
best thing we can do is try to add another good cornerback or two
which is easier said than done. At safety, we will always struggle.
We are stuck with Roy Williams. Ken Hamlin isn't very rangy either,
but he will probably get locked up long term because he is a good
player. Hamlin is smart and he makes plays in coverage, but he
isn't athletic enough to help cover receivers.
Our linebacking corp is slow, but it isn't getting any better. We
basically play a 5-2 with the two linebackers being as slow as any in
the NFL. Bradie James is a great player, but he is simply not
athletic enough to help in coverage. Ayodele is the same way.
Bobby Carpenter would help alittle, but he can't even break the
starting lineup. The only linebacker we have that could play in
Indianapolis is Kevin Burnett. He has played really well this year
against the pass. He made several nice plays covering receivers
underneath against the Packers. We could have helped if we put a
more athletic guy in Greg Ellis's place that would be better in
coverage. We can't do that though because we need the pass rush
since our front three doesn't get a good push on passing downs. It
will get a tad better with Anthony Spencer, but he isn't going to help
you much in pass coverage either.
The bottom line is we are a big, slow defense that is going to stay
that way. He have a good enough team to go 12-1 and dominate
most opponents, but that isn't enough if you can't win the Super
Bowl. We could definitely outscore the Pats defense as they are
big, and slow on defense too. It is just going to be tough because
we aren't equipped to handle a pass happy offense on defense.
The 2007 Cowboys could probably beat the pants off the previous
three New England Super Bowl teams, but it remains to be seen if
they can beat the 2007 edition of the Patriots dynasty.
The NFL as we know it is rapidly changing. College has already
changed. The spread offense rules college football. Big, physical
football teams simply don't have an answer for it on defense.
Look at the NFL this season. What do the Patriots, Cowboys, Colts,
and Packers have in common? They all throw the ball for big
chunks of yards and they score a bunch of points. All four teams
run the ball pretty well especially the Colts and Cowboys, but they
are still scoring their points in the passing game.
The Pittsburgh/New England game showed me that the physical
smashmouth brand of football that has been a staple of the Steelers
and many other teams is dying. The Steelers had the number one
defense in the NFL and they got torched. The reason they got
torched is that their secondary is average at best. Their physical
front seven can pummel your average NFL team into submission,
but put that defense on the field against three and four receiver
sets all game long and they are out of their element.
Dallas's defense is a worse version of the Steelers. We are big and
physical. We stop the run and we have a good pass rush. We
dominate average to below average offensive teams like Minnesota,
Buffalo, and the Jets. Put us up against an above average offense
that likes to spread the field and we are in trouble.
To win in the new NFL you need to be athletic in your back seven,
and you have to be able to score points in the passing game.
Dallas's offense is perfect. Our offense is a little more conventional
than the Patriots and Packers, but we are equally as effective. We
don't usually put more than three receivers on the field because we
have Jason Witten. We are still able to get mismatches and throw
up and down the field on just about any defense we play.
Our defense is where the problem lies. Bill Parcells built a defense
for 1987. The problem is, it is 2007. With the Giants, he had a big,
bad defense that would take you one-on-one and beat the heck out
of you. We built a decent version of that defense in Dallas, but it
doesn't work against a team like the Patriots. They make you take
your playmaking linebackers off the field in place of your 4th and
5th cornerback. Good luck with that. Our cornerbacks are
downright awful when you get past the medicore Jacques Reeves.
I've never been a fan of the Tampa 2 defense, but it is most
capable of stopping a pass happy offense like the Patriots. This is
why I give the Colts the best chance of beating the Patriots. They
have the offense to keep up, but the also have a defense that really
slowed down the Pats earlier this season. Their defense is
undersized, but everyone on the field is fast and they can fly to the
ball. This type of defense also gives up few big plays making an
offense drive the length of the field.
Football is all about match ups. You could argue that the Cowboys
defense is as good or maybe slightly better than the Colts overall.
The Colts sometimes have trouble stopping the run because of their
size. However, when they play the Patriots they have much better
success.
Well, you may ask what we can do to help our problems on
defense? The answer is that there isn't a whole lot we can do. The
best thing we can do is try to add another good cornerback or two
which is easier said than done. At safety, we will always struggle.
We are stuck with Roy Williams. Ken Hamlin isn't very rangy either,
but he will probably get locked up long term because he is a good
player. Hamlin is smart and he makes plays in coverage, but he
isn't athletic enough to help cover receivers.
Our linebacking corp is slow, but it isn't getting any better. We
basically play a 5-2 with the two linebackers being as slow as any in
the NFL. Bradie James is a great player, but he is simply not
athletic enough to help in coverage. Ayodele is the same way.
Bobby Carpenter would help alittle, but he can't even break the
starting lineup. The only linebacker we have that could play in
Indianapolis is Kevin Burnett. He has played really well this year
against the pass. He made several nice plays covering receivers
underneath against the Packers. We could have helped if we put a
more athletic guy in Greg Ellis's place that would be better in
coverage. We can't do that though because we need the pass rush
since our front three doesn't get a good push on passing downs. It
will get a tad better with Anthony Spencer, but he isn't going to help
you much in pass coverage either.
The bottom line is we are a big, slow defense that is going to stay
that way. He have a good enough team to go 12-1 and dominate
most opponents, but that isn't enough if you can't win the Super
Bowl. We could definitely outscore the Pats defense as they are
big, and slow on defense too. It is just going to be tough because
we aren't equipped to handle a pass happy offense on defense.
The 2007 Cowboys could probably beat the pants off the previous
three New England Super Bowl teams, but it remains to be seen if
they can beat the 2007 edition of the Patriots dynasty.
Don't Hit the Panic Button, Yet
You never want to see your team lose, but the fans and analysts
who say Dallas is starting another December collapse is jumping to
conclusions. So they lost. I'm not too concerned. You can't get
spoiled. We are going to lose a game every once in awhile. The
way I look at it, we could lose the next two games and win the Super
Bowl or we could win the next two and lose in the 2nd round of the
play-offs. You want momentum, but loses are going to happen.
There is a reason this franchise has never had a team go 14-2.
The main reason I'm not concerned is that the defense played
great. If they would have had a second poor week in a row I would
be worried. Our offense is going to be fine. Tony Romo finally had
a bad game. He has been making it look too easy this season as
we don't fully appreciate what he had done during his seven game
streak with a QB rating of 100 of more.
The offensive line really struggled after Andre Gurode left. We
were playing a very confusing defensive front. Corey Procter can
block, but he probably isn't nearly as good at recognizing what the
Eagles are doing at the line and making proper line calls and
adjustments.
Our offense has carried us most of the season and that won't
change. Critics say teams are figuring the offense out. Romo
missed Owens on that first drive on a deep pass. Owens likely
would have scored an 85 yard touchdown. I don't think that is what
the Eagles had in mind. Not to mention only a week ago the
Cowboys scored 28 points in a game were they hardly ever had the
ball.
I was really happy with the way the defense played. They got
consistent pressure on Donovan McNabb. That is saying something
when they were on the field nearly two thirds of the game. The
stopped the run and kept Westbrook in check on screens and
dump-offs. The play of the defense makes me more optimistic than
I was going into the game. We lost, but the unit that has struggled
at times this season was great.
Anthony Henry is back. He was matched up on the quick Kevin
Curtis and he looked great. He was able to press him and when he
made an underneath catch he made an aggressive tackle. Curtis is
similar to Wes Welker who gave Dallas fits without Henry. You
would think those guys would be too quick for Henry, but since
neither guy has good deep speed he can press them and they can't
get off the line.
Jay Ratliff had a great game. He had a sack and he consistently
pressured McNabb up the middle. He definitely rewarded the front
office for giving him the new contract extension. I would say Jason
Ferguson's days are numbered. We didn't pay Ratliff that kind of
money to sit on the bench next season. I like Ferguson and I'd
rather have him at nose tackle and Ratliff playing end instead of
Spears, but I don't see that happening. Cutting Ferguson will save
us four million dollars of cap space and that would go along way in
re-signing Ken Hamlin or Flozell Adams.
I would like a prototypical nose tackle, but Ratliff has done the job
and he doesn't seem to be wearing down so it doesn't make sense
to keep around the aging Ferguson. Ferguson can still play, but we
don't really need him. Tank Johnson seems to be playing decent as
a backup. He will be a lot better with an off-season under his belt.
I will know exactly who this team is after this Saturday's game
against the Carolina Panthers. If we struggle again, I will be officially
worried. I expect this team to respond the way they have all season.
I am predicting at least a two touchdown victory hopefully with the
return of Terry Glenn.
That is about all I have to say. The offense struggled for once.
Period. If you are worried don't be. Teams are going to lose and
last time I checked 12-2 isn't half bad.
You never want to see your team lose, but the fans and analysts
who say Dallas is starting another December collapse is jumping to
conclusions. So they lost. I'm not too concerned. You can't get
spoiled. We are going to lose a game every once in awhile. The
way I look at it, we could lose the next two games and win the Super
Bowl or we could win the next two and lose in the 2nd round of the
play-offs. You want momentum, but loses are going to happen.
There is a reason this franchise has never had a team go 14-2.
The main reason I'm not concerned is that the defense played
great. If they would have had a second poor week in a row I would
be worried. Our offense is going to be fine. Tony Romo finally had
a bad game. He has been making it look too easy this season as
we don't fully appreciate what he had done during his seven game
streak with a QB rating of 100 of more.
The offensive line really struggled after Andre Gurode left. We
were playing a very confusing defensive front. Corey Procter can
block, but he probably isn't nearly as good at recognizing what the
Eagles are doing at the line and making proper line calls and
adjustments.
Our offense has carried us most of the season and that won't
change. Critics say teams are figuring the offense out. Romo
missed Owens on that first drive on a deep pass. Owens likely
would have scored an 85 yard touchdown. I don't think that is what
the Eagles had in mind. Not to mention only a week ago the
Cowboys scored 28 points in a game were they hardly ever had the
ball.
I was really happy with the way the defense played. They got
consistent pressure on Donovan McNabb. That is saying something
when they were on the field nearly two thirds of the game. The
stopped the run and kept Westbrook in check on screens and
dump-offs. The play of the defense makes me more optimistic than
I was going into the game. We lost, but the unit that has struggled
at times this season was great.
Anthony Henry is back. He was matched up on the quick Kevin
Curtis and he looked great. He was able to press him and when he
made an underneath catch he made an aggressive tackle. Curtis is
similar to Wes Welker who gave Dallas fits without Henry. You
would think those guys would be too quick for Henry, but since
neither guy has good deep speed he can press them and they can't
get off the line.
Jay Ratliff had a great game. He had a sack and he consistently
pressured McNabb up the middle. He definitely rewarded the front
office for giving him the new contract extension. I would say Jason
Ferguson's days are numbered. We didn't pay Ratliff that kind of
money to sit on the bench next season. I like Ferguson and I'd
rather have him at nose tackle and Ratliff playing end instead of
Spears, but I don't see that happening. Cutting Ferguson will save
us four million dollars of cap space and that would go along way in
re-signing Ken Hamlin or Flozell Adams.
I would like a prototypical nose tackle, but Ratliff has done the job
and he doesn't seem to be wearing down so it doesn't make sense
to keep around the aging Ferguson. Ferguson can still play, but we
don't really need him. Tank Johnson seems to be playing decent as
a backup. He will be a lot better with an off-season under his belt.
I will know exactly who this team is after this Saturday's game
against the Carolina Panthers. If we struggle again, I will be officially
worried. I expect this team to respond the way they have all season.
I am predicting at least a two touchdown victory hopefully with the
return of Terry Glenn.
That is about all I have to say. The offense struggled for once.
Period. If you are worried don't be. Teams are going to lose and
last time I checked 12-2 isn't half bad.